


Finding the Source

by pizarra



Series: The Warlock's Bane [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Dark Arthur, Dark Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 08:08:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2102025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizarra/pseuds/pizarra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a sack of cloth wearing Leon's face.<br/> <br/>Hunith cries, Percival mourns in his own, silent way. The refugees, who have built their new houses and planted their vegetables around the castle and calls Merlin their King, offer candles every night for a week.<br/> <br/>And Merlin? Merlin is angry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding the Source

"People of Camelot, if you want to search for a better life, the Kingdom of Elmet is open for you. As long as you are of good heart and good mind, you will be safe and you will be cared for. We will welcome you."

Silence meets Merlin's pronouncement, but he knows they heard. And they will come. Because if it's a choice between life and existence, humans will _always_ choose life.

So he will wait. And he will protect them with his life.

 

\----------==========-----------

 

It's a sack of cloth wearing Leon's face.

Hunith cries, Percival mourns in his own, silent way. The refugees, who have built their new houses and planted their vegetables around the castle and calls Merlin their King, offer candles every night for a week.

And Merlin? Merlin is angry.

 

\----------===========----------

 

They bow as he walks to the castle of the Fisher King.

"You've given the Fisher King a peaceful death. The people see you as the rightful King of these lands," his mother tells him.

They call him King Merlin as he enters the gates of the Dark Tower.

"You keep them safe and well-fed. You paved the way to a new life away from Arthur. Royalty or not, Merlin, you are our King," Percival declares one day.

"Our saviour!" they claim, despite him not saving Leon or that boy or Gwaine or Elyan.

"You will keep us safe from Arthur. You will be able to defeat him and take back Camelot," Gwen confides.

He keeps silent and grits his teeth. All he ever wanted was to build Albion alongside his King. And now, it ends like this:  in order to give peace to the land, he must kill the one person he loves the most.

They all see him as a strong leader, a wise king, a powerful warlock. No one ever considered that he is mourning, too.

 

\----------==========-----------

 

"King Arthur keeps himself a witch, Sire. A young 'un," says Mary, a serving girl from Camelot and among their newcomers. Merlin needs all the information he can get if he were to defeat Arthur.

When Mary asked for an audience with King Merlin, Percival took her straight to the throne room—the room where Merlin gave the Fisher King his death; the one room Merlin would not invade—forcing Merlin to sit in the king's place.

Merlin shifts in the throne. "When..." He clears his throat. "When did this happen?"

"Right after you left, my lord. He brought her in, right, then chained her, Sire. The poor girl was crying all night."

"Can you tell me how powerful she is?"

"Very, Sire, but not as powerful as you." Merlin waits for more. Mary looks around her from time to time, fear in every line of her face.

Merlin gets up from his seat, and takes Mary's hands in his. "Hey," he says as soft as he can, "it's alright. You're safe now."

"She...It's said in the kitchens that it was her who found you. And she...she knows who leaves, Sire. And she knows where they can be found. But she was a good lass, Sire. I don't know what happened to her to make her like that."

Dark magic is what happened. Arthur has some control of her, he’s certain of it. The way that dark magic just surrounds the girl, the way she does his bidding—it’s as if she’s in a trance and doesn’t know what she’s doing. It’s far different from having her magic bound. No. When the King bound Merlin’s magic, the magic became Arthur’s own, leaving little to none to Merlin. This time, Arthur made sure that their connection cannot be _unbound_. He nods. "Thank you, Mary. My mother will show you where you can rest for tonight."

She curtsies. "My lord. Thank you. We owe you our lives."

Merlin just nods and says nothing, but inside he wants to scream.

 

\-----------============-----------

 

The Sidhe King is waiting for him when he arrived.

The moment Arthur rose from the depths of Avalon, Merlin chose not to ask questions; he was too happy to have his beloved back that he never thought anything to be wrong. That is, until they reached Camelot to find Guinevere as the sole ruler of the kingdom. From then on, it was one misfortune after another.

Now, he is asking questions, but if he knew that the answer would be something he didn’t want to hear, he wouldn't have come.

"Welcome, Great Emrys," the Sidhe King says.

He doesn't trust the Sidhe. Magic has been far too long removed from the land, and the Sidhe have had decades to steep their anger over the injustice and the imbalance the Purge brought. However, Arthur mentioned this magical race and a prophecy that Merlin knows nothing about. He needs answers.

"You told Arthur a prophecy," Merlin says, going straight to it, "and I want to know what it is. Know that if you lie to me, Sidhe King, I shall take your life as easily as I have taken your predecessor's."

The Sidhe King smiles, putting Merlin even more on edge. "The prophecy has been passed down even before magic was erased in these lands. Camelot will rise to its ultimate power with the Once and Future King and the Great Emrys side by side."

Merlin sits on the damp earth. What they told Arthur is the same prophecy that the dragon has told Merlin. However, the prophecy does not explain Arthur's actions or his obsession with having Merlin bound to him.

"What have you done to King Arthur?"

"I know not what you mean, oh Great One."

"He came back wrong."

"We only gave you what you wanted—the King alive. Is that not what we delivered?"

He says nothing.

"Perhaps...Is it not possible that what you thought of as wrong is just his real self pushing through? Isn't it possible that the King Arthur you knew was a false one? King Arthur just may be truly _his father's son_." The Sidhe King leers at him, showing his maleficent self.

Merlin can feel his anger rising. Arthur is not his father's son, no matter what they all say. Something happened to him in the depths of Avalon, and Merlin will find out what. And then he will cure Arthur. He will bring back the Once and Future King, and then put their destiny in its rightful place. He will have his love back.

The powerful warlock closes his eyes to concentrate on every beat of the Sidhe King's wings. The wind slows, the water ripples, and he feels it—a flap in the air, the gentle pull and push of the fae's appendage. He raises a hand to slap at the wind, and even before opening his eyes, knows that he has stopped time.

Merlin rises to his feet, and calls on the force of the wind to carry him to the middle of the lake, right in front of the Sidhe King.

The Sidhe King is stunned, surprised at being overpowered and frozen in place. He apparently underestimated Merlin's power, not realizing that it is more than love that drives him now. More than duty or destiny.

He smiles at the Sidhe King, knowing that his anger is showing through. "I will spare your life today, Sidhe. However, when I find out what happened to Arthur—and I will find out—I will come back for you to take my revenge."

Merlin leaves the same way he arrived—slowly, steadily, and unafraid.

 

\----------===========----------

 

It is disconcerting to see Gaius in proper chambers. His mentor has regained his strength and is treating the refugees, but he now has his own chambers, forced upon him by Merlin. A spell has transferred all his beloved books and equipment to the workroom that Merlin has also provided for him, which the old physician was extremely grateful for, on the condition that he takes proper rest. His mother has been helping the man nurse the people back to health.

"What could the Sidhe benefit from Arthur knowing the prophecy?" Gaius ponders out loud as they convene in the old man's sitting room.

"I don't know, Gaius, but whatever it is, it's not good. They have their own reasons, I'm sure of it." Merlin rubs his hands to bring some warmth to them. "And they did something to Arthur. It’s the only explanation. That is not the Arthur we know."

"Yes," Hunith agrees, "but what?"

Percival clears his throat. "The Sidhe are powerful beings. Just how powerful, though, Gaius?"

"One cannot be sure," Gaius replies. "The Sidhe are mistrustful of humans, and have kept their magic and power close to their chest. And their knowledge of magic can rival that of dragons. In fact, the only other being more powerful than the Sidhe that I know of is, well, Merlin."

Merlin nods. He’s read the Druid scripts. A delegation arrived within a week of his escape to bring them gifts and copies of Druidic scripts that foretold the coming of Emrys. They see him as powerful, as powerful as the magic of the Earth itself. They want Merlin to learn what it really means to be _Emrys_. And they expect Merlin to defeat Arthur.

Gwen nods. "Yes, but what _can_ they do? Can they make a person change their minds? Can they make a person evil?"

Merlin shakes his head. “That’s possible, but that would need very potent magic. I would have felt it immediately.”

“A person’s heart and mind cannot simply be _gone_ , as was the case with our dear Gwen when Morgana enchanted her,” Gaius adds. “Magic that strong will always be felt. And,” Gaius looks at Merlin, “ _his love for you would have brought him back_.”

Merlin looks away as the tears start to threaten. He doesn't want to admit it, but perhaps it's time to address something that has been on his mind since Arthur changed. "What if," he says, mouth dry, "what if Arthur never really loved me?"

"Merlin," Gwen says as her hand covers his, "you're not listening properly. Gaius said that if Arthur was enchanted the same way I was, you would have felt it immediately. You didn't know that something was wrong until..."

“Until he imprisoned Gwen and Leon,” Percival cuts in. “And even then, we only thought he was just angry.”

"My dear boy, that man is not Arthur. He may look and speak like Arthur, but something's changed him," his mother says.

He looks out the window as they all get lost in their own thoughts.

_That man is not Arthur._

Merlin frowns.

_That man is not Arthur._

"Mother!" His enthusiasm makes everyone at the table jump. "What did you say?"

Hunith pauses as she thinks. "That something's changed Arthur?"

Merlin shakes his head. "You said that that man is not Arthur."

"Ye-es," Gwen cuts her eyes at him as she drags out the word.

"That's it!"

Percival frowns. "What's it?"

"We all agree that our Arthur would not bring harm to his own people, right? We agree that he loves me and Gwen, and that he would rather kill himself than see us hurt?"

They all nod.

"Mother's right—that man is not Arthur!”

“Are you suggesting,” Gaius raises an eyebrow at him, “that Arthur’s a Shade?”

“A what?” Percival asks.

“A Shade. A resurrected person—“

“Who does the bidding of a necromancer,” Merlin finishes for him. “No, it can’t be. They didn’t have enough time—and before you say it, Gaius—I can perceive the time in Avalon, and the Sidhe would have needed more time to turn Arthur into a Shade, to make him do things. But with Arthur...no matter the situation at court, the decisions he made were sound and unequivocal—he was in possession of his mind.”

“So, what made Arthur evil? What kind of dark magic was put on him to make him act like a beast with no heart?” Percival asks.

Gaius gasps suddenly, making everyone turn to him. His ancient eyes are round as he looks at Merlin. “Or a man without a soul,” he says.

Merlin stares at Gaius, not sure if he heard right. “What?”

Gaius shifts in his seat. “There were…some stories, my lord, back when I was a boy…”

“Gaius,” he warns, not liking the fact that his old mentor used an honorific.

“The Lake of Avalon is a gateway to the fallen, Sire; it is where souls go to rest. The Old Religion believes in reincarnation, of a soul being given back to the mortal world to live again. There were stories, back in the day, that claim that there were souls that the Sidhe would keep for themselves,” Gaius elaborates.

“…Keep for themselves?” Merlin asks.

Gaius nods. “Yes.”

“Keep them for what? What do they do with the souls?”

Gaius shrugs. “Nobody knows. As I’ve said, these are just stories I’ve heard as a boy.”

“But would that explain why Arthur is a different man?” Percival asks.

“What kind of a person will a person be if his very essence has been taken from him?” Gaius looks at all of them. “He has a twisted sense of right and wrong, and he is indiscriminate as to who he persecutes. I fear that without a soul, a person has no conscience, no concept of love. He is convinced that he’s not being cruel because to him, there is no cruelty or kindness. He’s just…an empty vessel.”

Merlin stands up, suddenly angry. All those months he’s suffered in captivity, those weeks spent chained and bleeding, all those days believing that _his_ Arthur no longer loves him anymore…

“Merlin?” Gwen asks. “Are you alright?”

Without answering Gwen, he turns back to Gaius. “The Sidhe...are you certain that Arthur’s soul is with them?”

“I cannot be sure, my lord.”

Merlin grabs his cloak from the back of his previous chair, then walks to the door. “Then, I will make sure of it.”


End file.
